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Table of Contents
What does it mean when my child “makes his/her day?”Making Your Day means that your child has been responsible for coming to school ready to learn. Specific responsibilities that have been followed through on include: 1. Being prepared with materials for class. 2. Behaving as expected in the classroom, in the cafeteria, on the playground, and on campus. 3. Being actively involved in learning. 4. Putting forth maximum effort according to his/her learning style. 5. Choosing appropriate methods for solving peer interaction problems such as: a) Reporting to teacher on playground or in the classroom. b) Walking away. c) Talking the situation through. 6. Acknowledging impact of their actions on others. 7. Accepting and giving constructive suggestions in a helpful way. Back to Top
Should I be upset if my child doesn’t make their day?No, your child will bring home a form similar to this for you to sign: ___________________________________________
__________________________________________
What are steps?We define a mistake as “an opportunity to learn.” Failure only occurs when an
individual stops trying. Steps should replace public reprimands, power struggles, detentions and other
coercive methods of control. Steps are not considered a punishment nor should
they ever be used as such. Back to Top
What are points?Points are accrued throughout the day based on two criteria: Doing what’s expected and doing the best you can. Students assess themselves based on their individual abilities. Students have the ability to earn points from the time they leave home in the morning until they return home after school. Each student has several opportunities throughout the day to reflect on their behavior and their efforts in class. They take credit for achievements and responsibility for those choices that may have kept them from optimum learning. The only reward in Make Your Day is intrinsic – a student leaving school with pride in themselves for putting forth their best effort. Back to Top
I've heard that Make Your Day is a "tattle" program, which is something I don't want my child to do. Why is this encouraged?Tattling is not a part of Make Your Day. Tattling involves one of the two involved parties talking to a third party (an adult) in order to “get someone in trouble.” This is neither encouraged nor promoted. Throughout the day, students are encouraged and taught to speak directly to the person who is interfering with their learning or well-being using a polite, informative manner. (Example: Please stop tapping on your desk. That bothers me.) In most instances, the other student is not aware that their actions are bothering anyone and quickly stops. Concerns, which is a structured part of Make Your Day, is the involved parties talking to each other, listening, agreeing or disagreeing and then moving on under the guidance of the teacher. Students share concerns with each other in order to help the other person. If the teacher suspects that a concern is being shared for any other reason such as tattling or bullying, they immediately address it. If you would like to see this process of Points and Concerns, ask your child's teacher to allow you to observe. If your child tells you they are the victim of tattling or bullying, please share this information with their teacher immediately. The teacher then will be able to take steps to remedy the situation. Back to Top
What’s my responsibility when my child chooses a Step 4?The following is an outline of the process and your role.
STEP FOUR CONFERENCE Participants 1. The student 2. The parent. 3. The teacher. 4. The administrator (Optional, except for automatic Step 4) Step Four Conference Guidelines 1. Teacher sets expectations for classroom before stepping outside to complete the Step 4 conference. 2. Agenda setting (pre-conference) “Thank you for coming. Have you participated in a Step 4 conference? (Explain briefly the circumstances, the parent’s part, the student’s part and your part.) This is how your child chose Step 4. I will call for your child so we may begin the conference. Please knock when you are ready.” 3. The teacher returns to the classroom to call for the student and resume teaching. When the parent knocks on the door the teacher returns to the Step 4 conference. 4. The student states problem honestly and completely. 5. The student takes responsibility for his/her actions. (If appropriate, the student acknowledges the financial responsibility to replace stolen, damage or destroyed property.) 6. The student uses problem-solving skills to verbalize positive alternatives. 7. The student expresses the desire to return to the classroom. 8. The parent(s) determines that the student is ready to return to the classroom. Parent(s) ALWAYS decide if a Step 4 conference is successful or unsuccessful, not the teacher. Back to Top
Where is the Make Your Day program used?Link to Schools currently using Make Your Day Back to Top
What should I expect as a pay-off for putting it into our school?*60-80% reduction in discipline referrals
Are all teachers supporting it?Before a school is trained in the Make Your Day program, the staff must unanimously vote to support and participate in the implementation of the program. All staff members attend approximately 16 hours of training. Back to Top
What type of training did the teachers receive?Within the 16 hours of training, the trainer describes the philosophy and the basic structure of the Make Your Day program. He describes each component, the rationale for each component, and the correct implementation of each component, which reinforces the philosophical underpinnings of Make Your Day. The remainder of the first day is spent teaching the staff, step by step, how to correctly implement the program. Day Two usually begins with a review followed by a question-and-answer period. Once the trainer feels confident that there is a good understanding of the material, the staff is broken into small groups and provided with a variety of opportunities to practice implementation of the program. Group discussion following each presentation provides constructive feedback that continues to enhance the participants’ understanding of the program. The final phase of the two-day training is designed to help the staff tailor Make Your Day to the particular school’s needs. Throughout the second day the staff votes on basic tenets for their setting. This will include naming the program, defining the school rule, discussing automatic Step 4s, and deciding common area expectations. Back to Top
When something doesn’t sound fair or reasonable to me as a parent, what should I do?There are times when teachers misuse MYD and there are times when teachers
make mistakes with MYD. Your child is best served if you would take the
opportunity to visit with the teacher - either in person or on the phone.
In visiting with your teacher, we suggest that instead of pointing out what
might have been a mistake; ask the teacher 1) if the incident
occurred and 2) if the teacher feels that the action taken is in line with Make
Your Day philosophy. This is a non-confrontational way to communicate with
the teacher and advocate on behalf of your child. We know our students will make
mistakes and our teachers will as well. In addition, please feel free to
email us for clarification at
earlandcheryl@makeyourdayparents.com.
Is there a committee of students, parents and teachers that works with this program?Yes, the school formed a committee of staff members. By the end of the
initial year of implementation, parents and students will be added to the
committee. Back to Top
Do schools follow this program to the letter or do they change it over time?
Schools that implement
Make Your Day have gone through the process of voting prior to its
implementation. All staff members agreed to this school-wide approach. Each
school receives 16 hours of training. During the first year of implementation,
schools are expected to use the program as it was designed. In the second year
and following years, schools will tailor MYD to their site. It is encouraged,
but not mandatory, that students are not held accountable for homework or
coming to school late as some of our students do not control those circumstances
in their personal life. We use the phrase, “This is not a "Make Your Night
Before" program. It is, however, reasonable for schools to hold students
accountable at some level for not having homework. We ask schools to develop an
alternative to MYD for that purpose, but each school makes their own
determination as to what’s appropriate for them. Back to Top
Why did Earl Brown develop this program?This program started about 30 years ago and was developed initially based on the ideas of the students with whom I worked at Greenway Middle School, Paradise Valley School District in Phoenix, Arizona. The principal, Bob Dietrich, provided a supportive professional environment that allowed Make Your Day to develop. I taught a classroom of middle school boys who were placed there because of extreme behavior problems. Cooperatively, we designed a program that helped them be successful in school. Thousands of students and teachers have been a part of continuing this program in order to improve learning and safety in their schools. The philosophical underpinnings have remained intact; however, refinements in the implementation have come as the result of on-going feedback from educators, students, and parents. The following is the abbreviated version of how Make Your Day came to be. In designing rules for the classroom, the boys came up with about 70 rules to cover all situations but we decided that would be too many to remember. We decided all the rules could fit under "No one has the right to interfere with the learning, safety or well-being of others." "No one“ vs. “a student” means that everyone, including adults, has equal responsibility in maintaining a school climate that supports learning in a physically and emotionally safe environment. After a bit of time with using this rule, the students said to me. Sometimes, we're going to interfere with other's learning. Instead of embarrassing us by pointing at us, giving us "the look," or telling us to stop in front of everyone, could you just privately ask as to take some time away and give us some time to think about what we did. After a few minutes, just ask us privately if we need more time. Since we chose to sit away by interfering with other's learning, we'll know if we need some more time to think. That's how Steps began. These students worked very hard on their schoolwork and on their behavior; however, they didn't get recognition for that. Many couldn't make honor roll even if they worked their hardest; many weren't popular so they weren’t elected to student council; they stayed home when they were sick so they didn't receive perfect attendance awards; and many had a hard time with team sports so they couldn't get recognition that way. They wanted their efforts to be recognized, so they thought of a way to address this. At the end of each period, they wanted to evaluate their own efforts at "doing what was expected, the best they could." Since the periods were 45 minutes long, they evaluated themselves based on being able to earn 45 points per period. They thought of it as starting out with "0" points and earning up to 45 points. They took credit for what they did and took responsibility for any problems they had. For example: "43. I was proud of the work I did on my math this period, but when you were giving directions I talked to my neighbor." That's how Points began. After a time, a student came up to me and told me something very important about his friend. He said that his best friend, John, wasn't always honest with his points. Sometimes John interfered with other's learning, but didn't take responsibility for that in points and he knew that John wouldn't last very long in high school if he didn't learn to stay on track. He asked me, "If John isn't honest with his points and he interfered with my learning, can I help him by reminding him about it and giving him some ideas about how to do better." That's how Concerns began. I left the classroom in June, 1981, in order to teach other special education teachers how to use the program that had developed. In 1988, Joel Davidson at that time a principal at Mountain View Elementary School in Washington School District, Arizona approached me with the idea of training the entire school staff to implement this program on a school-wide basis. Based on the success at Mountain View Elementary School, other schools asked to receive training in order to implement Make Your Day. To date, the program has spread simply based on referrals from educators who use the program, parents who feel it has positively impacted their child’s education, and students who feel that Make Your Day provides them with a physically and emotionally safe learning environment. Back to Top
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